Worth
by hikari yuuko
Summary: [EdxWin] Some things are still worth it. A collection of FMA drabbles. UPDATED! 10. Understated
1. Worth

_**Standard disclaimer applies.**  
**Author's notes:** For some reason, this was left resting somewhere inside my last semester's notebooks, so until today, I hadn't had the chance to post it. It's a really short drabble, but I hope you enjoy it! See you soon._

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**Worth**  
_15.11.2004_

Ed never really talked whenever she fixed his automails.

Occasionally Winry tried to make up a conversation and he'd answer gruffly every now and then. Especially since she had taken a liking to scolding him for his recklessness. She would always ask questions about the same, old things, and they would never get into real depth for a specific subject. Questions about Central or the country's current situation were swiftly avoided, as usual, though. And when he didn't answer, she would frown until she started talking about random things again.

It wasn't like neither liked talking about war anyway.

Even if Winry sometimes felt slightly left out, disappointed; there was nothing she could do about it really. Ed was determined to do anything that would prevent her from getting involved in the conflicts...

Other than that, Ed answered almost every question about his health, Al, and any other thing that Winry came up with.

Whenever she ran out of topics, she would simply work silently on the twists and turns needed be made with her wrench and tools. It was one of those times that the blonde girl noticed how he always stared down at his limbs, never meeting her eyes if she ever searched for his, and his lips were set in a grim, thin line.

When he winced, she would pause from her work and look up at him. And he would, of course, refuse her gaze and turn away from her beseeching eyes. Always the same.

And yet, sometimes, he'd look back at her, offering a weak smile before asking her to continue.

If Winry _ever _doubted if her work was worth it, or if he even really cared for the matter, then she'd only have to remember Ed's smile and his eyes to know it was.


	2. Childhood

_**Standard disclaimer applies.**  
**Author's notes:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed "Worth". Thanks to all of you, I've decided to make out of this a collection of FMA drabbles (mainly oriented to EdxWinry). I hope you continue to read and enjoy these, and review of course!_

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**Childhood**  
_26.02.2005_

_Winry remembers being an eight-year-old girl._

She walked with Ed and Al along the riverbank on their way home. She had been scolding Ed for the fifth time. Why, that boy didn't know how dangerous it was to walk on the fence. On their right side, Al stopped once again to pick up a flower for his mother. And while he stopped, she and Ed would do so as well and the three stared at the blue, blue river with bright, shining smiles.

It was a summer day, but the heat didn't bother them at all thanks to the refreshing breeze that swayed past them.

_Winry remembers she had been a little too tomboyish, a little too girlish when she was young._

She liked playing with dolls, but no more than playing with her Grandmother's tools. She also liked getting all muddy from jumping into puddles when it rained. But more than anything, she loved playing with the two alchemist-wannabe Elric brothers.

Al played with Den, who had runned of from the Rockbell residence to greet the three children. The dog skipped around the younger Elric, pulling his shirt and inviting him to play. The boy had accepted willingly and chased after the dog; the other two watched him off as they grinned.

_Winry remembers laughter in the air. The memory is so clear she could almost hear the kid's laughing like twinkling bells and the dog's happy barks in the background._

One of those refreshing breezes ruffled her hair, and her hands instantly went to her blonde locks to stop them from messing up. She hadn't been so lucky, so seconds later she was combing her short hair with her fingers. She didn't like her hair very much. It wasalways on her face, and she couldn't keep it on it's place when she was working. She wanted to have her hair like her mother's. Her mother looked so beautiful in those pictures Granny had.

"You have pretty hair," Ed stated as he looked over his brother, not daring to turn to her. He hided his gaze in his own blond hair.

The girl stared at him, wondering slightly if she had heard wrong. Afterwards, she flushed, very slightly, and smiled.

"You should grow it longer," the boy commented then, more casually. He grinned at her before running off unexpectedly.

_Winry remembers a smiling Edward._

He ran faster, challenging her and his younger brother, who he had just run past by, to a race home.

She snapped out of her surprise and started running as well after the two brothers. She was yelling at Ed for cheating, and despite of it, she was still grinning. The wind kissing her face as she ran after the two.

_Winry remembers a happy childhood as she brushes her long, golden hair._


	3. Kissing

_**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **__Inspired on a drawing that my friend Ginny did of a really cute, blushing Doremi and Kotake. Ah, young love! This was written very quickly, so I apologize if you find any mistakes. A slightly EdxWin-ish drabble, with Trisha on it because I love her to bits. I think I'm making these things a little bit longer, hm... Also, I want to thank you very much for all your lovely reviews! _

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**Kissing**  
_05.03.2005_

Edward Elric had first heard of kissing girls even before he was in grade school.

First thought: _not_ nice.

The thing was, these weren't the kisses he gave to his mom or Auntie Pinako that the boys at shool were talking about. It was a kiss _kiss_.

The horror stories told by them had left the poor child scared to death. Perhaps not only scared, but _scarred_ for the rest of his life if he wanted to be dramatic. To be exact, it was the sole idea of being like that with a… girl… that terrorized him. And he was definitely not one who got easily frightened.

His mother laughed at him when he came home that day, asking frantically if he'd ever had to do it. At his tender age of five, Ed thought girls were stupid and annoying and awful.

She faced him seriously, not about to shrug off his question as though it was a kid's nonesense talk.

"Mommy is a girl too, right?" the gentle woman had asked him then.

His eyes wide, he looked at the brunette lady and shook his head. "Mommy is Mommy! Mommy isn't like any other girls! She's special!"

Trisha chuckled, her melodic laughter like the notes of a song she used to sing to him and Alphonse at night.

She brushed the stray, whispy hairs out of his sleeping brother's face. The boy curled in his position next to her, leaning into his mother's warm body. She looked back at her oldest son, also caressing the young boy's face. He was more and more like his father every day. She gave him a wistful smile and the boy could only look back questioningly at her faraway gaze.

"But, mommy," he brought her back to reality, and she listented attentively, "Winry is a girl. Does that mean I have to kiss her?" he asked, thouroughfully concerned. He did not like the idea in the least, and this only brought a frown to his face and a childish pout to his lips.

The woman looked at him, dazed at his logic, and shook her head as she laughed once again.

"Well, maybe, maybe not," she told him sincerely. The boy in front of her gave her a very doubtful look.

"But I don't want to kiss Winry! She's my friend!" he protested before she could explain further. "Why would I want to kiss her anyway?"

That was_ certainly _another of his pouts.

"Ed, when people grow up and fall in love, a kiss becomes one of the most beautiful, sweetest things in life," she reasoned calmly. "If you fall in love with her when you are older, and if she loves you back," she said, "You may kiss her, and you'll understand what I'm saying."

His mother was wise, but she could not predict the future. _No one can._

"I won't love anyone else more than you, mommy!" he assured her.

Trisha smiled widely at Edward.

**END**

_Years later, he'd grow up and understand what his mother meant to tell him._


	4. Apple Pie

_**Standard disclaimer applies. **  
**Author's notes:** Don't tell me it's short, because I _know_ it's short, even shorter than the two previous ones. ;.; Yet, I think it's pretty as it is. References to Hughes, no major spoilers.  
Thanks to all reviewers, I love you all to bits! And to **Hellokitty-4-ever**, for her review in _Kissing_, we can't live without them because they're part us, the same way we are part of them. And yet, they are still very much troublesome. n.n;; _

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**Apple pie**  
_18.03.2005_

They sit together in the same red couch, silently, side to side. Neither is able to say anything to the other. No reassurances or comfort, no soothing words. Instead, in the darkness, he slips his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer in a hug.

She is startled at first, and seconds later, Winry finally settles her head in his shoulder and her blonde hair falls over her eyes. The girl struggles to stop sobbing, because it only makes his face twist further in that painful smile.

She grimaces in distaste at her state. Hadn't she vowed to herself that she would make _him_ smile and laugh once again? And yet, there she is, hiding her own tear-streaked face against his chest, weeping like a lost child.

How is she supposed to make him smile like this?

Edward wants to tell her not to cry anymore, to gently scold her for being so silly and a cry-baby. He tries very hard for her, very hard not to cry as well. And suddenly, he misses his ally the rain this moment.

He wishes for the rain even when it turns the tombstones cold and the ground muddy, when it forcers people have to say goodbye under a gray sky. On a gray day, a mother and her child were left alone.

"It's not fair, Ed…"

She whispers his name almost breathlessly, and he kisses her hair out of sheer instinct. She puts all her will in suppressing another mournful sob and nods against his chest, over his already dampened shirt. She understands.

It hurts, to both of them. And so, her arms circle slowly his neck and she leans a little closer.

"Everything will be okay, Win. I know it will." She grips his white short tighter, nodding once again. "I promise."

The apple pie lies on the coffee table, two tiny slices missing already. And two teas grow cold along with it.


	5. Little Brothers & Special Ocassions

_**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes:** Ok, I know that I'm a little bit traumatized with this whole "apple pie" scene thing. But I get so many ideas! ((whines))_ "Little Brothers" _is, as the name gives away, a shot focused more on **Alphonse,** and works as a prequel for_ "Apple Pie." _The second one doesn't have anything to do with either shot, but relates to them. Also, the second one might be a little bit of a spoiler… n.nU I_promise_ the next ones will be sappier _EdxWin'_s for you guys!_

_**Extra note for "Apple Pie" readers:** On the previous shot, only those who had reached that part in the manga may have understood what I was trying to imply with that scene, or rather, continuation of. I am really sorry as I cannot really explain to the rest of you because it is like throwing you one hell of a spolier for the manga (Have I mentioned I've only read the manga? (up to 46)). Sorry! Unfortunately, the same goes for these two, although it's probable you'll get thins better after the second drabble._

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**Little Brothers**  
_14.04.2005_

He knocks the door quietly, as quietly as his armored hand allows him to. Before anyone responds his call, however, the door opens itself and he is confronted with the sight of his elder brother and their childhood friend, silently sitting in front of each other.

_An already sliced apple pie lays on the coffee table between them._

And all of a sudden, he's taken back to Rizenbul, to his former life and the memory of the sweet cinammon scent filling the kitchen. A gentle woman craddles her younger son as her first born, a chirpy four-year-old, tries to steal the dessert laid on the kitchen table. The younger boy scurries away from the warmth of his mother's arms and runs up to his older brother, attempting to grab a bigger slice. He can hear their mother's laughter fluttering behind them as she watches over them.

And then reality hits him and he's back to the room. He gazes down at his metallic limbs. In this state, Alphonse tells himself, he can't smell the sweet spice anymore.

Ed and Winry look up at him with slightly startled expressions and both their faces twists themselves to offer him sad smiles in an attempt of reassurance.

"Al," the girl is the first one to speak. Winry has been crying, her voice is still cracked up and her eyes are nothing compared to the bright blue gaze he is used to. "W-what's wrong?"

"Oh, Winry-chan… 'Nii-san… I…" He has forgotten what he was sent for as he takes in the girl's tear-streaked face. "AH," he turns to his brother, "'Nii-san, Lieutenant Hawkeye and Colonel Mustang need to talk to you in the Colonel's office."

His brother shifts in his seat, very subtlibly, lowering his head if just a little.

"I'll be there in a moment." The red-coated boy stands up from his seat and stands by Winry. Ed's gaze meets his, and Al thinks he can recognize the fire that used to lit up the amber eyes of the younger Edward from his memory. He'd smile if he could.

"Alright." The armored suit nods, and he hesitates to say something else and turns to leave. He glimpses back, just in time to see Ed sit next to Winry.

Alphonse closes the door behinds him as quietly as his armored hand allows him to. He decides right then that he will make them smile again, both Winry and Ed. Because, for sure, little brothers are meant to protect their loved ones too.

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**Special Ocassions**  
_14.04.2005_

Miss Rockbell wasn't the greatest cook. It was yet another irony of life, since she practically mastered mechanics and knew more than a few special moves with machinery involved. But she wasn't really bothered about it, it was not like it had been one of her priorities either.

She loved working hard with Granny at the workshop rather than spending their time in the kitchen, and she used the rest of her free time to either read her parents' medicine books or hang with her playmates, Edward and Alphonse.

She did make wonderful apple pies, however.

She made them only twice every year, on very special ocassions. One on General Brigadier Hughes' death anniversary, and one on Edward's birthday.


	6. SelfSuficient

_**Standard disclaimer applies.**_

_**Author's notes: **Warnings for fluffiness (I did promise it, right?) and possible OOC… or not, because Ed can be a total moron when he wants to. ((smiles)) Thank you for your reviews in earlier chapters, I love every single one of your comments. I'll try to update the next drabble in a week or so. See you soon! _

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**Self-suficient**  
_24.04.2005_

The two walk side by side down one of Central's hallways. He brandishes a new frown and a nasty cut on his lower lip. His black leather jacker is open; bandages around his waist are visible under the thin, white t-shirt. She peers ar him, wincing when he turns at her and glares darkly.

He snaps. "I told you I can go by myself!" His voice echoes on the hall.

She does too. "Oh, can you? Really?" The blonde pokes his ribs and he hastily bends over his body with a grimace on his face. Pain seethes through his teeth.

"You little..." he hisses, throwing an angry glare at his childhood friend.

"Ed!" she growls, "Do you see now? You're not fully healed. You have to tell Colonel Mustang that you can't go on another mission this soon!" she pleads.

"Winry," the Fullmetal starts in a scolding tone, "I am fine, okay?" He stands up, carefully straightening his jacket as if not to touch his sides too roughly. "Don't worry, it's not like I'm still a sissy ten-year-old! I am able to look out for myself."

"You don't," she declares, brave enough to defy him, and then crosses her arms over her chest.

"ARGH, Win...!" he yells, because he never wins against her, and it frustrates him. Moreover, she's always right.

They engage themselves in a stare fight, neither losing concentration. If they could they would surely stay there for more than a couple of hours, neither giving into the other, but then they hear Armstrong walking down the hall while talking to a private, and Ed blinks and swears silently. The blonde girl smiles triumphantly.

"Winry," he pales, "You win..." He pauses as the steps get closer. "And I... I'm not _so_ okay."

Her growing smirk fades and turns into a startled face as he pulls her hand, pushing her inside the janitor's closet, closes the door, and shuts off the closet's tiny light bulb.

They wait, hearing the heavy footsteps coming closer and then wandering away from them. And while they wait, her hands curls around his in a tight grasp. He holds her hand back, and he gulps down something he refuses to acknowledge.

"Winry... I'm sorry…"

She says nothing, and instead turns the lights on, slipping her fingers away from his. She turns to look at him and smiles awkwardly. "I think Lieutenant Armostrong is already gone."

He turns the light off, his hand taking hers once again. "Can we stay here a little longer?" his voice has a hint of panic, "Just in case he comes back."

_'No, but of course he can take care of himself…'_

She smiles and nods to the darkness.


	7. Waiting

_**Standard disclaimer applies.**  
**Author's notes:** An incredibly fast update, to my standards at least. Actually, this is an original piece, modified to fit them. Sappier than the original too, so yay for fluff. I want to thank you all for all your wonderful reviews, they really do make me happy. Remember to review if you like what you read. Enjoy!_

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**Waiting**  
_11.04.2005_

The town sleeps harmoniously, the sweet tunes of the night lulling every single creature to sleep until a storm finally breaks and the water brims from the clouds, falling heavily over the pasture and the rooftops of the small country houses.

Winry sighs as she closes the window and overlooks outside through it with tired eyes. The rain pounds the ground as the wind thumps against the window glasses and it roars with such ferocity that can be compared to a beast's cry. The rain pours harder, and the girl's chest clenches with each passing second. Anticipation, trepidation… She has never liked thunderstorms.

She hates being such a crybaby, but the fear causes the feeling of nausea to well up in her throat. She hasn't been sleeping properly, if the slightly puffy eyes are any indicative, and the roars in the sky only make her grow anxious. Winry's gentle, sapphire eyes are glazed over with an unreadable emotion.

It's been too long already... Ed had promised he'd return soon.

Her hand falls over the moistened crystal, her palm leaving a mark and a trail as a single drop of water runs down the window.

The blonde sits quietly in the old chair, pulling the blanket closer around her and willing herself to go to sleep. But she can't. She is waiting for someone. She always does.

When Ed knocks the door at two AM, she nearly trips over the stairs and rushes to the door to open it. The first thing his automail mechanic and childhood friend does when he stands in front of her, dripping wet and carrying his brown suitcase, is to knock him out almost literally with a left punch. Winry scolds him, hot tears pooling in her eyes, and then envelopes him in a death hug.

Hesitantly holding her back, dropping the suitcase as he does, Edward forgets about the long train ride and twenty minutes down the road under the heavy weather just to see her.

And the storm seems to stop for them.


	8. Hands

_**Standard disclaimer applies.**  
**IMPORTANT A/N and Warning:** This drabble contains major spoilers for chapter 46 and 47 from the manga, which is currently running. This is just my take at the given situation, from Winry's point of view, sort of. The dialogues on italics are taken directly from the scanlations. If you haven't reached this point of the manga or haven't read it at all and don't want to be spoiled, DO NOT read this drabble. Replies for the last chapter's reviews will be answered in the next drabble.Without anything else to say, except many thank you's for all your wonderful reviews, read on and see you soon!_

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**Hands**  
_12.05.2005_

Angry tears fill her eyes and run down her flushed cheeks. She's enraged. Furious at the man before her, the man who stole her most precious people; she is furious at herself, who points the gun at the man with shaky hands; and she's furious at Ed, because deceive floods her like waves.

Why? Why did this man have to take them away from her and made her so lonely?

Why? Why was she a wrack of sobs and had only gained a pair of scrapped knees?

Why? Why didn't Ed tell her sooner that he knew?

She glances at the State Alchemist once, and she can only see pain and regret in the golden orbs of his. Ed's remorseful face makes her cry harder, hard enough not to let her hear Al's full of concern, strained voice on the background calling for her, so her eyes return to the man with the scar on his face.

"_Wait... Winry…"_ A gasp. _"Don't… Not that..."_ she hears one of them say desperately. _"Winry!"_ Al yells.

"_Please stop, Winry!"_ This time, it is the eldest Elric speaking to her. But she doesn't look at him.

"Why?" she mutters, even though she is fully aware that the answer will not bring them back. "Mom and Dad…"

She holds the gun's trigger with her fingers, so tightly that even a slight move could make the metallic weapon fire. But her fingers are frozen, her hands are cold, like the tears that she's crying. Winry knows now that fate goes by that old saying, cruel to be kind. And it's been far too cruel to her. For this, she thinks, fate has a lot to do to make it up to her. She doubts it ever will.

There's an exchange of words, one in which she isn't able to participate in because her mind has gone somewhere very far, far away in her memories. Memories in which a man and a woman gently hold their daughter's hands as they walk down the small path back home, where her grandmother awaits them with a grinning face. Memories in which her mother lets her play with her rubber gloves and pretends to be her ill patient, even though the woman can't hide the smile in her lips. Memories in which her fathers brings a new pet home, it's fur soft and smooth against her fingers, and they pick a name together. Memories so distant, and yet come to her as if it had happened barely the day before.

Both Ed and Al speak to her, beg her to drop the weapon, but her body is shaking so fiercely that she clasps the object even tighter, like the flower clinging on the end of the cliff for its life.

"_Don't shoot!"_

And then everything is so sudden that she can barely see when Ed jumps in front of her and she finds herself staring at the red cloth of his coat. As he faces the Ishvarian, his fingers touch her hands softly, and the thought that comes to her head is that his hand is warm against her own cold one. Still, she can't drop the gun, even when she can't shoot, even if she doesn't understand it herself.

It is much later, when Ed takes her somewhere safe and that he slowly takes it away from her that she knows why.

"_They're hands that let people live." _

So now she will use her hands like she only knows how to. Like her parents taught her to.


	9. Understated

_**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes:** To be sincere, I've beenconcentratingon other projects and I left this without really realizing about it. And since I love EdxWin very muchI thought I should at least update every once in a while. Without much else to say, except an apology for not updating in such a long while, I leave you to read this new drabble. And please remember to review!_

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**Understated  
**_24.07.2005_

Edward Elric wasn't known to be an overly emotional man. He wasn't very vocal or physical. And although it was true that he got easily irritated, he was mostly quiet and tried be subtle when it came to his feelings; before he ran out of patience anyway. Ed wasn't a possessive man either, he just liked that his things were respected as much as he respected other people's properties.

Given the circumstances, his friend Winry had once concluded that no one who didn't know him well enough would really understand what the boy was actually feeling based on his actions alone. Not that one couldn't try to figure him out by being very observant, of course. Like the way he walked with a hand pocketed in his pants or how he frowned whenever he thought a price was too high in the supermarket. There was also the special angle his hand took when he waved or how his lips twitched before he would actually smile.

And then, there was that one day when a recently 'regular' costumer arrived at the shop asking about the new automails parts for his grandfather. The tall, young man had visited at least thrice in a week the Rockbell workshop and, the Fullmetal hadn't failed to notice, seemed particularly fond of the young automail mechanic.

The man was visiting a fourth time, on that warm Autumn afternoon, as Winry stood well positioned on her place behind the counter. Ed simply barged in, carrying a deep frown, strolled to the counter, held Winry's hand, and glared at the costumer.

"E-Ed?" the girl turned to his childhood friend, surprised by the sudden intromission. The customer quietly stood stunned in-between them, his eyes shifting back and forth from the automail mechanic to the red-coated, angry-looking blond.

"Auntie Pinako asked me to tell you she needs you to check something at home," he motioned towards the house. "Let's go," Ed pulled her arm lightly before he turned to the brunette man. His golden eyes fixed themselves on the gulping costumer and his glare intensified.

"Oh, alright," she nodded, "Just let me…" she began, slightly turning towards the customer.

The man excused himself even before Winry could do it herself. He hadn't returned since.


End file.
